although she continued to play on tour

Sitting in the rare position of being first in the AL East with the calendar approaching June, the Blue Jays are set to kick off a ten game homestand against fellow division leader, the Oakland Athletics. Nick Bjugstad Jersey . Toronto has won three straight and six of its last seven games overall to take a one-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East. The Blue Jays concluded an impressive three-game sweep over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park with Thursdays 7-2 victory. Mark Buehrle tossed seven innings of two-run ball for his major league-best eighth win of the season. Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista went back to back in the first inning off Red Sox starter Jon Lester. Toronto tacked on five more runs in the second and went on to out-hit Boston, 14-7. Right-hander Liam Hendriks was promoted from Triple-A to make his Blue Jays debut. Hendriks, who was claimed off waivers from the Orioles during spring training, went 5-0 with a 1.48 ERA in nine games at Buffalo. Hell look to the offense for some run support. Toronto leads the majors with 67 home runs to go along with an AL-best 168 extra-base hits. First baseman Edwin Encarnacion has been one of the main catalysts with 11 homers already this month. "You can see how weve been making adjustments at the plate," Encarnacion said. "Weve been looking for our pitch, weve been trying to be aggressive and trying to do our best to win games." For Oakland, Scott Kazmir takes the mound after being ejected by home-plate umpire Jerry Layne in the second inning of his last outing against Cleveland for arguing balls and strikes. The veteran left-hander walked three and struck out one in 1 1/3 innings. Opposing hitters are batting just .215 off Kazmir this season, and that includes a .133 average with runners in scoring position. Manager Bob Melvin decided to keep Kazmir on his normal routine between outings since he did throw 41 pitches before getting tosses. "Were still trying to be careful and get him through the whole year," Melvin said. Over the teams last 13 games, As pitchers have posted a combined 1.58 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .185 batting average. Oakland has gotten hot with wins in 11 of its last 13 games to claim the best record in the majors. The team began Friday with a 3 1/2-game lead over the Angels in the American League West. The As, who are wrapping up a nine-game road trip with this weekends series, own a major league-best 18-7 road record this season. However, they are coming off Thursdays 5-2 loss at Tampa Bay in 11 innings. As starter Sonny Gray went eight innings and allowed just one run, but the offense could not help him out and the bullpen eventually imploded. Reliever Dan Otero yielded three hits in the 11th, including a two-out RBI single to Desmond Jennings to tie the game at 2-2. Luke Gregerson came on and promptly served up a walk-off three-run homer to Sean Rodriguez. Oakland has won eight of the last 11 meetings in Toronto. Colton Sceviour Jersey . -- Barry Bonds is all set to return to the San Francisco Giants. Custom Florida Panthers Jerseys . Mauer drove in two runs before leaving with an injury, Eduardo Nunez homered and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 10-2 on Tuesday night.The only Canadian woman to achieve a world top-10 ranking in tennis is watching Eugenie Bouchards run at Wimbledon with great interest. Carling Bassett-Seguso was a world No. 8 almost 30 years ago. Currently 13th, Bouchard is assured of equalling that when the next rankings are released Monday. The 20-year-old from Westmount, Que., became the first Canadian woman to reach Wimbledons semifinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over ninth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany on Wednesday. "Im telling you shes going to number one," Bassett-Seguso told The Canadian Press. "I watched her play. I dont watch too much womens tennis to be honest with you. I watched that match and I was just blown away. "She just takes the ball so aggressively. Her composure, I cant even believe shes 20. Her shot selection, her timing is impeccable. She really takes the ball early. If you look at her statistics, she hits more winners than errors." A victory over third-seeded Simona Halep of Romania in Thursdays semifinal can push Bouchards ranking higher than eighth and set a new pinnacle in Canadian womens tennis. Bassett-Seguso intends to be watching from her home in Bradenton, Fla., as Bouchard attempts to make more Canadian tennis history. "It gives me great interest to watch now," the 46-year-old said. "She has such great potential. "I love Wimbledon. I look at it and say they hit the ball way harder than I did. Its a totally different game now. Whats exciting is she can hit a lot of other shots too. I like to see the creativity too." Bouchard also reached the semifinals of this years French Open and Australian Open. Canadas Federation Cup captain Sylvain Bruneau agrees with the Bassett-Segusos assessment of Bouchards potential. "Can she be No. 1 one day? I wouldnt dare to put any limits on Eugenie," he said. "With three semifinals at 20 years old and the type of tennis she plays, I dont think there is a limit. "I think she can aim for big things in tennis. No. 1 in the world is something that is very possible. Right now, shes playing great tennis." These are heady days in Canadian tennis. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., also earned his first Grand Slam semifinal berth Wednesday with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over Australias Nick Kyrgios. BBassett-Seguso, who blazed her own tennis trail in the 1980s, is enjoying it from afar. Derek MacKenzie Jersey. "For me, its great," she said. "Theres a big interest and I think its going to be such a great asset to Canadian tennis itself, on the mens side too." Torontos Bassett-Seguso turned pro at 15 in 1983 when there were no age minimums to play on tour. She reached No. 8 in the world two years later. She was a semifinalist at the U.S. Open in 1984 when she lost to Chris Evert. She also reached the quarter-finals of the Australian and French Opens during her career. She married U.S. tennis player Robert Seguso in 1987. The couple once ran a tennis academy in Florida, but are no longer involved in the sport. They have five children ranging in age from two to 26. The blonde, photogenic Bassett-Seguso became a Canadian celebrity with the nickname "Darling Carling." The teenager worked for the Ford Modelling Agency. She acted in the teen movie "Spring Fever", as well as a television episode of "The Littlest Hobo." The success came with pressure, however. Bassett-Seguso struggled with an eating disorder during her career. She lost some of her passion for the game after the death of her father John in 1986 from cancer, although she continued to play on tour until 1990. Bouchard, also tall and blonde, is likewise attracting her share of attention, and endorsements, as her career soars. She has a significant following on social media and her fan club is "Genies Army." But joining the worlds top 10 players requires unwavering commitment to the sport, Bassett-Seguso said. Tennis is a world sport with 145 countries as members of the International Tennis Federation. "Its hard. Im not going to lie. Its really hard," Bassett-Seguso said. "I dont think anything is too hard if you want something bad enough and you have a plan and you have the right people around you and you know what has to go into it. "Youre going to fall (in the rankings) at times and thats where you have to constantly believe in yourself and take baby steps. You have to stay focused. Tennis has to be your whole life. It has to be." --- Canadian Press sports reporter Bill Beacon contributed to this story. 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